Cardiovascular health
Modelling the cardiovascular system
Biological and computational modelling underpin much of the recent innovation in cardiovascular health care, enabling more accurate diagnosis, better clinical decision-making, and more effective treatments. Research teams at the Â鶹Éçmadou School of Biomedical Engineering (SBmE) are currently involved in modelling projects including the following:
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Analysing electrocardiograms (ECGs) is an inexpensive, non-invasive, and very powerful way to diagnose heart disease. Currently, however, the methods developed for detecting abnormality in ECGs depend on the manual annotation of large datasets, an exercise which can be enormously costly. Dr Reza Argha is working on the development of an automated method for the annotation of ECG records, supported by colleagues Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell and Associate Professor Sze-Yuan Ooi. This fundamental work will lay the foundation for future projects that incorporate automated ECG analysis into tools for clinical decision support.
As of 2021, 520,000 Australians suffered from mitral regurgitation (MR), a common form of heart valve disease that can leave people feeling extremely tired or short of breath. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is a minimally invasive treatment that also offers a quick recovery time – but a significant number of patients are denied the treatment because of fears related to obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). Dr Chin Neng Leong is leading a team to study the flow dynamics of LVOT obstruction. Their insights will inform the development of a diagnostic support tool for cardiologists making decisions about TMVR treatment. He and his colleagues, Associate Professor Socrates Dokos, James Otton, Dr Amr Al Abed, Associate Professor Susann Beier and Youssef Salem Alharbi, are hopeful that their predictive tool will help maximise the number of patients who can benefit from TMVR.
Nanoparticle drug delivery systems offer great promise for the treatment of certain types of cardiovascular disease but, currently, only a small fraction of the administered dose – as low as 2 percent – actually reaches the intended target sites. Blood vessels are the primary conduit for these revolutionary delivery systems, but they can also get in the way of drugs reaching target tissues. Professor Megan Lord and her team are pioneering the creation of advanced ‘in vitro’ models that will make it possible to assess the effectiveness of delivery systems in blood vessels outside of the body, ultimately improving both diagnostics and therapies for some of our most challenging conditions. Members of Megan’s team include Dr Jonathan Yeow and Dr Miriam Jackson; PhD candidates Claire Bridges, Dan Wang, and James Paoloni: MPhil candidate Sarra Mourad; and Research Assistant Nicole Chiwei Bao Hou.
Monitoring cardiovascular health
The capacity to accurately monitor what’s going on in a patient’s cardiovascular system can be used to improve diagnosis, inform the selection and continued effectiveness of treatments, and help patients maintain their lifestyles while easing congestion in busy health services. Research teams at the Â鶹Éçmadou School of Biomedical Engineering (SBmE) are developing new ways to keep track of heart function, in projects including the following:
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- Dr Hamid Alinejad-Rokny is leading an ambitious project using artificial intelligence (AI) to explore the intricacies of DNA organisation, chromatin interaction, and spatial transcriptomics. Dr Nona Farbehi, Professor Irina Voineagu, and Associate Professor Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina will bring to the project expertise in genomics, spatial transcriptomics and tissue engineering, respectively, with the aim of decoding gene regulation and advancing our understanding of cellular diversity and cell-type clustering. These AI-enhanced insights promise to pave the way for innovative new therapeutic approaches, informed by precision modelling of health conditions and highly accurate monitoring of disease progression
- Crowded hospitals, long wait-times, and a fatigued workforce are all signs that the health system is struggling to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population. Designed to monitor vital signs, deliver personalised programs for prevention and rehabilitation, and facilitate telehealth-style communications, the TCC app is giving patients access to world-class care from the comfort of their own homes. For more, see the case study on this page.
- Disturbances to the electrical signals and rhythms of the body underlie many disorders, including arrhythmias of the heart. The instruments and systems we currently use to understand, diagnose and manage these disturbances rely on electrodes and wires, however these electronics can be invasive, and limiting in terms of the information they provide to clinicians. To address the issue, Dr Amr Al Abed is working on the development of a light-and-fibres approach that will enable the deployment of high-bandwidth optical telecommunications in ultra-miniature neural and cardiac interfaces. His collaborators include Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell, Dr Reem Almasri, Professor Francois Ladouceur and Associate Professor Torsten Lehmann.
- Dr Michael Stevens is focussed on making cardiac assistive devices ‘smarter’ by introducing signal processing and control system techniques that will enable them to respond to changes in blood flow. As a result, device performance will be significantly improved for patients as they exercise, sleep, sneeze or cough. Michael is collaborating with Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell to realise the goals of the project. For more, see the case study on this page.
Case studies
Restoring cardiovascular health
From cell technologies to robotics to advanced manufacturing capabilities, biomedical engineering is finding new ways to repair, replace and regenerate the damaged or deteriorating components of cardiovascular systems. The Â鶹Éçmadou School of Biomedical Engineering (SBmE) is contributing to new thinking on how heart disease can be managed, through projects including the following:
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Cardiac assistive devices can help weakened hearts do the important work of pumping blood when transplants are not suitable or not available – but they can be bulky, noisy and vulnerable to infection and clotting. Â鶹Éçmadou’s Dr Thanh Nho Do is leading the development of an innovative new alternative to the devices of old, alongside colleagues Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell and Dr Phuoc Thien Phan, and PhD students James Davies and Adrienne Ji. The soft robotic ‘heart sleeve’ surrounds the heart in a woven net of artificial muscle filaments, using safe, simple and effective hydraulic compression to mimic the heart’s natural movement.
As of 2021, 520,000 Australians suffered from mitral regurgitation (MR), a common form of heart valve disease that can leave people feeling extremely tired or short of breath. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is a minimally invasive treatment that also offers a quick recovery time – but a significant number of patients are denied the treatment because of fears related to obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). Dr Chin Neng Leong is leading a team in the study of LVOT obstruction to inform the development of a diagnostic support tool for cardiologists making decisions about TMVR treatment. He and his colleagues, Associate Professor Socrates Dokos, James Otton, Dr Amr Al Abed, Associate Professor Susann Beier and Youssef Salem Alharbi, are hopeful that their predictive tool will help maximise the number of patients who can benefit from TMVR.
Around one in eight elderly Australians live with aortic stenosis, with that number expected to double by 2050. The condition is characterised by the narrowing of the aortic valve opening, obstructing blood flow from the heart, and leading to heart failure and sudden cardiac death. Replacing the stenotic valve with a bioprosthetic valve made of animal tissue is a common treatment, however the bioprosthetic valves typically fail within 10 years. Associate Professor Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina with collaborators Associate Professor Bernd Gludovatz, Dr Gagan Jalandhra, Dr Nona Farbehi and PhD candidate Zac Och are developing an innovative and longer lasting alternative in the form of a biomimetic silk heart valve.
Massive leaps forward in regenerative cell technology mean that a single dose of genetically modified cells has the potential to be curative for certain cancers and genetic blood disorders. For now, the therapy remains prohibitively high, ranging from $250,000 to $2 million per dose. Associate Professor Robert Nordon aims to address the issue, leading a project that will drive down the cost of treatment. He and a team that includes Osmond Lao, Dr Jingjing Li, Dr Farzaneh Ziaee, Ms Jasmine Lee, Dr Bac Dang are currently designing a microbioreactor system that will streamline and automate the cell manufacturing process, lowering the cost of both materials and labour, and making these life-saving treatments more accessible.
Dr Hamid Alinejad-Rokny is leading an ambitious project using artificial intelligence (AI) to explore the intricacies of DNA organisation, chromatin interaction, and spatial transcriptomics. Dr Nona Farbehi, Professor Irina Voineagu, and Associate Professor Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina will bring to the project expertise in genomics, spatial transcriptomics and tissue engineering, respectively, with the aim of decoding gene regulation and advancing our understanding of cellular diversity and cell-type clustering. These AI-enhanced insights promise to pave the way for innovative new therapeutic approaches, informed by precision modelling of health conditions and highly accurate monitoring of disease progression.
Dr Michael Stevens is focussed on making cardiac assistive devices ‘smarter’ by introducing signal processing and control system techniques that will enable them to respond to changes in blood flow. As a result, device performance will be significantly improved for patients as they exercise, sleep, sneeze or cough. Michael is collaborating with Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell to realise the goals of the project.
Vascular interventional surgery (VIS) is a common treatment for a range of cardiovascular diseases. Among patients, it is becoming increasingly popular as it is minimally invasive, causes less bleeding and pain, and offers a quick recovery. However, VIS treatments can expose medical staff to dangerous levels of sustained radiation. Dr. Thanh Nho Do from Â鶹Éçmadou is hoping to reduce the hazard to clinicians with the development of a soft robotic micro-catheter that will make VIS less dependent on X-rays and other visualisation methods that can cause harm. He is working with Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell, Dr Phuoc Thien Phan, and PhD students Chi Cong Nguyen and Emanuele Nicotra.
